The Portland Timbers continued their hot streak on Saturday night, despite missing a load of starters especially in their midfield. But they made it pay off as Antony, Santiago Moreno, and Felipe Mora all scored in a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rapids. Diego Rubio and Andrew Gutman would score for the Rapids.
The Timbers controlled early play, and made their first good chance pay off in the 19th minute. Dairon Asprilla made a nice run into the left side of the Colorado box, and his cross was met at the far post by a nice header by Antony, and Colorado keeper Marko Ilić had no chance as it slipped just inside the post, and the Timbers had a 1-0 lead.
In the 30th minute, the Timbers made that pressure pay off again when Santiago Moreno ran a nice give-and-go with Noel Caliskan, with Moreno ending up with the ball at his feet and unmarked, and he could curl a nice shot past Ilić and into the far side of the net, and the lead was now 2-0.
But just like Wednesday night against San Jose, the second goal prompted a quick response. Just one minute later, Diego Rubio would slip in behind the Timbers defense, on a nice high pass from Cole Bassett, and headed past David Bingham and just inside the right post, and just like that, the lead was back to a goal at 2-1 Timbers.
In the 40th minute, the center referee did a VAR review of a foul by Felipe Mora for a possible ejection, but kept the foul at a yellow card.
But shortly afterwards, in the 43rd minute, the Rapids would make their limited chances pay off yet again, when Andrew Gutman had a seemingly harmless shot from outside the Timbers box redirect off the foot of Juan David Mosquera, and past Bingham, and shockingly, the score was now 2-2, which would be the score at the break.
Colorado emerged from the locker room with momentum, and in the 55th minute, Calvin Harris had a good look after a nice run down the left side, but his blast was tipped just over the bar by Bingham. Starting in about the 60th minute, the Timbers started to push the possession advantage again, with a header from Antony going just wide right.
In the 71st minute, the Timbers would make that possession pay off when Asprilla made a nice header on a failed Colorado clearance, right into the run of Mora, who tapped the ball around Ilić and finished into an open net, and the Timbers were ahead again by a 3-2 score.
The Timbers would control much of the rest of play, and held on for their fourth straight win, 3-2 over the Rapids.
David Bingham would have two saves for the Timbers, while Marko Ilić recorded four saves for the Rapids.
Lionel Messi stats for the Timbers: 0 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists.
Lionel Messi stats for the Rapids: 0 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists.
Timbers win fourth in a row with 3-2 win over Colorado Rapids | Timbers website
(The first four photos in the gallery are of former Timbers Photographer Coordinator Al Gil being honored before the match. These photos are courtesy of Peter Bellerby at NW Sports Pics)
